'I saw my dad dragged to his death during Holocaust - now I'm hiding my yarmulke again'
'I saw my dad dragged to his death during Holocaust - now I'm hiding my yarmulke again'
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Holocaust survivor Tomi Komoly faced the “sheer horror” of seeing his dad dragged off to his death. He spent World War II with his mother in terror and torment trying to hide from the Nazis. He never thought he would have to hide himself again. Now, the 89-year-old grandfather who lives in Wilmslow in Cheshire reveals he slides off his Jewish skullcap - his Yarmulke - when in public, putting it on again once safely inside the Synagogue.
Tomi, who was given the British Empire Medal in 2020 for his work with the Holocaust Educational Trust, spoke to the Mirror ahead of the International Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwtiz. “It’s very upsetting. I would walk out of home with my head covering but nowadays I only put it on when I am inside the synagogue. Another thing that really upsets me are all these marches not only in London but Manchester which is very close to where we live…they are shouting against the Jews. I would be very much in favour of something being done to stop that.".
Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1936, Tomi spent his early childhood hiding from German soldiers, living in a one-bedroom flat with a curfew and later a Nazi ghetto with his mother. Tomi, who has shared his story with 25,000 children in 80 schools for the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET), explains how the Hungarian Government had been on Hitler’s side during the war but when they saw the tide turning “put out feelers” to the “British to change sides”.
